Borges saves Ceni and São Paulo

In the absence of a ‘Calamity Ceni’ photo, here’s Borges (left) and Miranda (right) celebrating as Júnior César looks on

Two goals from frontman, Borges, rescued São Paulo from defeat in the Libertadores vs Uruguay’s Defensor.

The homeside were trailing at home in the Morumbi after keeper Rogério Ceni added another hilarious gaff to his catalogue of school boy errors when he completely misjudged Diego de Souza’s effort and stepped back into his own net with the ball.

But as he has done on numerous occasions, the under-rated Borges struck twice in the space of four minutes to send São Paulo to the top of Group 4 and guarantee their place in the next phase.

Defensor had Diego de Souza sent off as the game became tetchy late in the second period. Referee Carlos Chandía, though, got it all wrong and should have red-carded São Paulo’s Dagoberto for booting Souza.

On Wednesday, Palmeiras came out on top in the battle of the Brazilians. Sport Recife were the hosts but a tap in from Keirrison and an absolute cracker from Diego Souza earned Vanderlei Luxemburgo’s side their first points of the campaign. See the highlights here

Also on Wednesday, Cruzeiro were hammered 4-0 away to Argentina’s Estudiantes. Cruzeiro went into the match on the back of a 19-game unbeaten run and a positive result could have seen them confirm their place in the next stage. But goals from Verón, Fernández, and a Sánchez Prette brace, put the kibosh on that.